Rising lack of trust has no easy fixes

By The Daily News

Published: Friday, December 6, 2013 at 09:09 PM.

In October, the Associated Press and the GfK Group conducted a survey whose core question was, “Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you can’t be too careful in dealing with people?”

The result: Only 32 percent of those responding said “most people can be trusted,” while 64 percent said “you can’t be too careful.” Just 4 percent said it depends on the situation, which is a sign the overall level of suspicion has become automatic if not ingrained.

Break the numbers down into specific situations and they become more jarring. Three-quarters of Americans don’t trust the people they share the roadways with, two-thirds don’t trust store clerks who swipe their credit or debit cards, 60 percent don’t trust their social media “friends,” 55 percent don’t trust people they’ve hired to clean their houses, exactly half don’t trust the cooks or chefs who prepare their restaurant food, and nearly half don’t trust the people who handle their medical records at doctors’ offices or hospitals.

Social and political scientists say they’re worried about the data and cited various reasons for it. Fewer people socialize face-to-face or become civically involved anymore. Income inequality has created chasms between groups. Round-the-clock news coverage of domestic mayhem and warfare abroad disproportionately magnifies the danger level viewers actually face. Moral values have declined so much in the U.S. that it’s silly not to believe there are evildoers poised around every corner or in cyberspace, ready to rip people off or do them physical harm.

Those are legitimate factors, and all probably are at work here. However, there’s also the stress of functioning in a world where people constantly are being asked to do more with less, and face having to perpetually re-educate if not reinvent themselves to keep up with technological and other changes. The events of Sept. 11, 2001, stripped away innocence from the U.S. and replaced it with a sense of vulnerability that will never go away.

We don’t think Americans are inherently self-centered. They’ve often proved otherwise in times of crisis; however, it’s hard to fault people for becoming insular when they face such daily challenges in keeping their lives out of the ditch.

Still, we share the analysts’ concerns, and agree with their contention that such mistrust threatens the traditions of compromise, deal-making and disparate elements working together that have been this country’s strength.

In October, the Associated Press and the GfK Group conducted a survey whose core question was, “Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you can’t be too careful in dealing with people?”

The result: Only 32 percent of those responding said “most people can be trusted,” while 64 percent said “you can’t be too careful.” Just 4 percent said it depends on the situation, which is a sign the overall level of suspicion has become automatic if not ingrained.

Break the numbers down into specific situations and they become more jarring. Three-quarters of Americans don’t trust the people they share the roadways with, two-thirds don’t trust store clerks who swipe their credit or debit cards, 60 percent don’t trust their social media “friends,” 55 percent don’t trust people they’ve hired to clean their houses, exactly half don’t trust the cooks or chefs who prepare their restaurant food, and nearly half don’t trust the people who handle their medical records at doctors’ offices or hospitals.

Social and political scientists say they’re worried about the data and cited various reasons for it. Fewer people socialize face-to-face or become civically involved anymore. Income inequality has created chasms between groups. Round-the-clock news coverage of domestic mayhem and warfare abroad disproportionately magnifies the danger level viewers actually face. Moral values have declined so much in the U.S. that it’s silly not to believe there are evildoers poised around every corner or in cyberspace, ready to rip people off or do them physical harm.

Those are legitimate factors, and all probably are at work here. However, there’s also the stress of functioning in a world where people constantly are being asked to do more with less, and face having to perpetually re-educate if not reinvent themselves to keep up with technological and other changes. The events of Sept. 11, 2001, stripped away innocence from the U.S. and replaced it with a sense of vulnerability that will never go away.

We don’t think Americans are inherently self-centered. They’ve often proved otherwise in times of crisis; however, it’s hard to fault people for becoming insular when they face such daily challenges in keeping their lives out of the ditch.

Still, we share the analysts’ concerns, and agree with their contention that such mistrust threatens the traditions of compromise, deal-making and disparate elements working together that have been this country’s strength.

We also agree with their conclusion that this won’t be an easy problem to fix. Trust can’t be gained or rekindled with a finger snap or a bill.

Perhaps this acknowledgement that there is a problem will inspire a bit of self-reflection. That’s the starting point for any solution.

A version of this editorial first appeared in the Gadsden Times, a Halifax Media Group newspaper in Alabama.